the Locket
by Angel Hotaru
Summary: Darien & Serena first season, they both out late after the episode "an artful attack," you know the one. R&R please!


Welcome to my first (sorta) attempt at writing   
a fanfic. This is my first submission, and I  
hope you like it. E-mail me and tell me what you   
think, kay? Oh yeah, my e-mail address is  
. Please, PLEASE e-mail me!!!. This   
stars our (or at least my) all time favorite couple,  
Darien/Mamoru and Serena/Usagi. I'm  
using dubbed names, because that was what I   
originally wrote it in. There are some  
somewhat different circumstances behind my so-called   
'first fanfic.' You see, I'm kinda   
writing this from memory, since I lost this fic   
in the black hole called my desk, which was  
originally my first (not my desk, the fic!). Standard   
disclaimer, Which is to say, I don't  
own Sailor moon,other people do (shucks!). I would   
also like to say that the biggest  
influence on this workhas to be Jennifer Wand,   
and that I got the idea for this fanfic while  
reading her 'She Loves Me,' but it does not take  
off her story, it just happens in the same  
time frame, sortof. The plot was my idea, and out   
of all the fics I've read this one hasn't  
been used. I would like to thank my best bud, Betsy,  
for doing this whole page, ain't she  
great?^_^ I couldn't have done it without her,   
defineitely.   
Right, so on with the show!!   
  
P.S. You might find that I mix English   
and Japanese terms, ex: meatball head and odango  
atama might both be used!!! Thanx   
  
The Locket, By Lauren Mallory   
  
* * *   
  
  
Serena Tsukino walked softly through  
the streets of the Juuban District of Tokyo,  
as if afraid to wake the people who were sleeping,  
like any sane, normal human, at one in the morning.  
She hadn't gone home yet, she had been in a battle   
earlier, a battle over a crystal, and over Peggy Jones.   
The petite girl wondered just what the big deal  
about these crystals were. They came in ugly colors and  
bulky cuts. Molly's mother had much nicer things in the  
OSAP jewelry store! Serena looked up at the moon, with   
disgust apparent on her face, as if hoping the moon would  
agree with her. It did not. Only the stars twinkled their  
understanding of her assessment.   
'Oh, yes' Serena thought. 'That other thing had  
happened tonight, too.' She'd been trying not to think  
of that. What is with Tuxedo Mask any way? Jeez, he   
acted like a total jerk tonight, and she had even saved  
his life. She did have other things to do, other places  
to be right then, like saving Peggy. Just who did he think he was!   
'He ought to know that those crystals belong   
to the Sailors!' No, she realized that wasn't really   
what bothered her. What bothered her was his coldness,  
his frigid as ice demeanor. 'Maybe he is our enemy.'   
she thought, then shook her head, her pigtails swinging  
out in a wide arc about her sweet face. He had saved   
her so many times, it just couldn't be.   
Serena sighed, and pulled out a bright object   
from her pocket. The Locket lid sailed smoothly open,  
and a somehow familiar melody poured out. She sniffled  
and swiped the sleeve of her shirt across her eyelids,  
brushing away some stray tears. She hated being so   
emotional about life. It wasn't fair, why did things   
have to effect her so much? Serena got the feeling that  
she would never really know, but in that moment, she   
didn't want to.   
Once again, for the millionth time that night  
she thought about the mysterious male super hero in   
a tux and, more importantly, mask. Why couldn't he be  
nice about it? She understood his need to have the   
crystals, he'd vaguely explained them, but why didn't  
he just say; 'I wish I could, but I need them, to   
understand...' Or at least something like that. Why   
did he even give her the Locket? She slowly recalled   
what he had said, her mind fuzzy with growing sleepiness.   
"You keep it, I'll probably just lose it again"   
Serena sniffed. "gee, thanks," she said out loud,  
sarcastically announcing her feelings to the street four   
blocks from home. Serena nearly jumped five feet up in the  
air when she heard a bored yawn from behind her.   
"For what, meatball head?"   
Serena pivoted on her right foot, miraculously not   
falling on the cold pavement. Great, Darien. What was the   
jerk doing out here at this time of night?   
"What are you doing out at one in the morning?" He   
asked, tiredly curious. He looked around and over her shoulder,  
as if looking for a person or reason that Serena would be out   
here for, when she obviously loved to sleep so much.   
"Maybe the same thing as you, Chiba." She awnsered   
suspiciously, doing much the same thing he had been doing   
seconds earlier, checking his surroundings.   
Darien smiled faintly. "I very much doubt that, odango."   
Serena huffed and turned away, refusing to acknowledge  
his nickname for her. Darien laughed.   
"Meeting someone under the moon light, Serena?"   
For some reason he found this incredibly funny (probably  
the fact that it was ONE in the morning helped). Darien  
burst out laughing, holding his stomach.   
Serena just eyed him wearily. She'd never seen  
him laugh this hard, wait, no, scratch that, she'd never  
seen him laugh at ALL! "What have YOU been smoking?"   
Darien stopped laughing, but still retained a small  
smile. "Nothing, I swear!"   
"Um-hm. So what are you really doing out here?"   
"You know, I'm in college, and you are in Middle   
School, you live with your parents, and you're-well- really  
young, so I think the question is more why you are out this  
late-uh, early, whatever," he said, carefully, strategically  
side-stepping the question.   
"Maybe you're right," Serena said somewhat snobbishly.  
"Maybe I'm meeting someone."   
"um-hm," Darien said, mimicking Serena.   
Immediately she was on the defensive. "You don't believe me?"   
She asked. When he irritatingly shook his handsome face negatively,  
and smiled charmingly, though Serena didn't notice. "Well I am, and  
he-he-he gave me a gift, yeah!" Instantly Serena remembered the   
locket, the cold personality, the warning...and was once again caught  
with shining eyes, only this time, rather than being caught by herself,  
she was caught by Darien Chiba.   
"Are you crying?" He asked, and amazingly enough, it was kind.  
His voice was soft, low, soothing. Serena shook her head in   
embarrassment, then turned away from his (goodness knows why)  
concerned face. She stared upward, at the night sky, not only with the hope that  
gravity would keep the tears from spilling over, but   
wishing that she could drawstrength from her patron,   
the rocky, silver moon. Oddly enough it helped, or maybe  
not so oddly.   
Darien saw the shine leave her eyes after a second  
of looking up at the bright gray orb, after he took a   
step forward to look at her profile as she placed her gaze  
on the heavens. Suddenly he was embarrassed at his action,  
and backed away, hoping she hadn't   
noticed. He had consciously noted, or allowed himself to   
finally admit, that she was a looker, when she wasn't klutzing  
out. That had been earlier, at Lonny's, er, Peggy's place.   
For some odd reason he had thought about that a lot yesterday.   
Really, even when he was fighting for the crystal with Zoicite,  
he had even thought that Sailor Moon looked a lot like   
Serena, both of them possessing an innocent and pure beauty.  
He imagined that the princess in his dreams had this angelic  
quality, but in his dream he only felt a powerful  
love enter his body.   
"No, I'm fine." Serena smiled over her shoulder  
at the tall ebony-haired man, and turned to face him  
once again, and for some odd reason, she was glad he  
was there, glad that she wasn't alone.   
"You sure?" He asked, trying not to sound too  
concerned. It kind of ate at him that he cared. Why   
should he? 'Well, for one, usually when she crys it's  
a VERY loud announcement to the whole world. Eardrum,  
popping, brain shatteringly loud. This, she tried to hide'  
Darien mused. 'So? she's learning to be subtle!' 'Whatever  
you want to think...' Darien had this, lets say,   
  
interesting, conversation with himself in a matter of a  
second, maybe less, but Serena still stared at him like he was odd.   
"What?"   
"You are odd," She decreed, in a very solemn and serious manner.   
"wha..."   
Instead of awnsering Serena smiled at   
his confused face, and tried not to giggle. Darien shook  
his head in wonder, one minute crying, the next smiling.  
He sort of felt like putting his arms around her, and   
smiling with her at this joke he didn't get. It reminded   
him of when he gets those weird urges to yell, really loud,  
right in the middle of a concert or at a big function.   
Darien shook his head in amusement at himself.   
"So," he asked, "What's this gift?"   
Serena immediately sobered up, and Darien mentally  
kicked himself for asking the question.   
"Well...it wasn't really a gift, I just found it,   
and then he said I could keep it."   
"Yeah." It was kind of like the 'gift' he had given  
Sailor Moon. Darien was still wondering why she almost   
cried, and it was really bugging him. He didn't want  
Serena to be sad, it just wasn't like her. If she was sad  
it would upset his whole perception of the word. 'woah,   
where did that come from?'   
"Did this guy do something to make you cry?" he  
asked, unable to keep the question to himself. He felt  
very protective of her, for some reason. If he had to he  
would try to make it all better.   
Serena stared at him, surprised. "Why should I tell  
you?" she asked, but before Darien even shrugged his shoulders  
she spoke again. "Yeah, he hurt me," she said simply. Darien  
was mad, but didn't show it, though Serena unconsciously picked up on it.   
"How?" he asked.   
"He was just...mean. I dunno why. He gave me this but  
denied me something else," she said ambiguously, and shrugged,  
trying once again not to cry. It wasn't as hard to stop the tears  
this time. 'maybe,' she thought, 'it's helping me to talk to  
someone.' She knew, though, that it wasn't that she was getting  
this information off her chest, but that the person she was talking  
to made Tuxedo Mask seem...not worthwhile.   
Darien shivered, part from the cold, but part from wondering  
if Sailor Moon felt this way, the last thing he wanted to do was hurt her.   
"Are you going to see him again?" He asked.   
"undoubtedly, but I don't know if I can trust him," she said bluntly.  
"I'm don't even know if I want his gift. It hurts to look at it, to think of  
it." Serena turned away,unable to stop the tears this time. She had wanted to  
be his friend, maybe more. He had turned away from her, probably not to be  
mean, she realized, but because wanted something that he knew both of them needed.   
"oh," was all Darien said, lost in his own thoughts.   
"Were you even listening?" Serena asked, a hint of annoyance lacing her question.   
"Yeah, I heard, I was just thinking about something that reminded me of your story."   
Serena's eyes sparkled with curiosity. "'Really, what?" she asked.   
"Nothing, really."   
"Whatever." Serena said, realizing that she would get no more out of him.   
Darien placed his hand on her shoulder, and Serena had to keep from jumping. It  
felt...nice there.   
"You know, Serena, if you ever need anything, just say so, okay?" he asked kindly.   
'How weird!' she thought. "Yeah, thanks!" she awnsered, surprised.   
They stood side by side for a while staring at the stars before Serena turned to him,  
a question on her lips.   
"Why are you being so nice, Darien? You're so different tonight."   
He smiled at her question, knowing the awnser, but not telling her. "Just because."   
"hmm..." Serena mumbled, her hand in her jacket pocket, lightly touching the  
star locket, wondering if...   
"Darien," Serena said, her voice choked, as if about to weep. "Could you-"  
she stopped, unable to keep from crying if she talked.   
"Yes?" he said, turning quickly to her not wanting her to cry.   
Serena composed herself, and repeated "Could you keep what he gave me, only for a little  
bit, until I can look at it and-well- not cry, or feel sad. I know he didn't want to  
hurt me, and I don't blame him, but I just don't think I can stand...being around it."   
"Yeah, sure" Darien awnsered, though unsure. Unsure if he should let this sweet girl  
trust him, as if afraid, for some reason, to allow her to confide in him. Serena breathed a  
sigh of relief, and reached into her pocket once again, pulling out something that Darien  
couldn't see in the dark, even with the street lights. Serena breathed  
a deep breath, then told him to hold out his hand. When he did Serena placed her hand over his,  
barely touching his palm with her knuckles.   
She let her breath out in a fast 'whoosh,' quickly stood on her tiptoes, kissed his  
cheek, and dropped the item onto his outstretched hand. She then ran away, quickly,  
before he could react.   
Darien brought his empty hand up to his face, touching his cheek where she had lightly  
pecked him. He then opened his other hand, feeling the many points and curves of the object  
clutched in his fingers. He couldn't see it, so he moved closer to a nearby street   
lamp.   
Darien saw the item and gasped. The gold star locket he had let Sailor Moon keep.   
  
  
******   
Okay, The End, that's it! Short, I know. I hoped you liked it!   
  
  
  
  
  



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